Devil on the Doorstep

BUT DOGS CAN'T ANSWER TELEPHONES!

Devil on the Doorstep; Chapter XV: Backstabber

"Name?" The receptionist looked up from her desk.

"Kai Hiwatari… I'm here to see Seth Hiwatari. He requested a meeting." If Kasi hadn't placed such high importance on hearing Seth's side of the story, then Kai wouldn't have come.

"Ah yes… he's at the screen at the end. I warn you, it's not a very nice sight, but rules are that nobody can obstruct their face at the prison." Kai nodded and pushed the door open.

It would have made him laugh, he thought as he walked down the long hall. It had only been the other day that him and his friends had watched the third instalment of the 'Naked Gun' Trilogy and Bryan and Ian's favourite catch phrase of the moment was 'But dogs can't answer telephones!' But this occasion was anything but hilarious.

Kai noticed the change in Seth the minute he sat down. The man was thin and withdrawn, and his hair had been combed over in front of his disfigurement. However, the eye that greeted Kai was as sharp as ever.

"It's good of you to come. I didn't think you would." The Phantom muttered quietly.

"If I had my way, I would never see you again. But Kasi wanted me to see what pitiful excuse you had, so here I am." Seth flinched at the venom in the younger boy's voice.

"You want to know why I did what I did." He smiled sadly.

"Yes." Kai glared at the older man. Seth reached out and took the young boy's hands in his.

"You've got to understand. I – I'm not as strong as you."

"I don't understand anything about you!" Kai wrenched his hands away.

"You do, you just don't want to." A tear tracked down Seth's face as he looked at the younger boy. "Three weeks after we disappeared, I was in the Abbey. Not with the children, but under the Abbey itself. Ironically, it was quite near the lair." Seth steadied his breathing before he continued. "They'd been trying for weeks to get me to talk, or rather, Father had. It was the minute he brought Balkov in that changed everything." Seth's voice had gone so quiet that Kai had to lean forward to listen to him. "Balkov… he… he touched me." Tears were streaming down the Phantom's face at this point. "And I couldn't take it… I told him."

"Right. So Boris molests you and you go over to his side. Coward." Kai spat. "And why were you the way you were afterwards?" Seth was silent for a long time, a wry smile on his face.

"If someone said you… threw a ball hard to them, next time you passed to them, what would you do?"

"Throw it harder. But what has that got to do with anything?"

"Everything… everything and nothing. Like you, I play up to stereotypes. And people were saying I was bad… so I was bad." Seth shook his head. "I knew what I was doing, and I tried to fight it… I had my limits. But it was too late. So I left you with a clue, hoping you were smart enough to work it out. And you were, and you got out. End of story."

"No it isn't! What about what you said about my mum?"

"I wanted to die. And you wanted to kill me. And I wish you had. Death would be better than being in this place."

"I don't believe you! You've lied to me too many times!"

"I swear to you, Kai, I am not lying now. I love you, and I hate myself for hurting you." Seth's eyes were glimmering with unshed tears.

"That makes two of us. I hate you. I never want to see you again. Goodbye, Seth." Kai stood up, and walked off without a second glance.

-

Backstabber, hope grabber, god, I feel for you, fool?

-

Whilst Kai was visiting Seth, Tala and Bryan both had to have emotional therapy. And boy were they looking forward to it.

Tala still hadn't spoken a word. Bryan wasn't sure how long they'd been in the cell, but he estimated it was about two weeks. Add onto that the week he'd stayed at the Bladebreakers, plus the three weeks he'd travelled to get there and you had six weeks of Tala being silent, which was very unusual.

"Now, I am Dr. Sawtell and my associate is Dr. Jones." The man with the messy blonde hair said, holding out his hand. Bryan took it nervously.

"I'm Bryan Kyznetsov, and this is Tala Ivanov." They sat down.

"Now, Tala, lets start with you." Tala and Bryan exchanged glances. "So you've been in this Abbey all your life?"

"Eleven years." Bryan corrected.

"Right." Dr Jones shot the silver haired blader a dirty glare. "And did you have any friends there apart from Bryan?"

"He had Kai, Kasi, Ian and Spencer." Bryan replied icily.

"Excuse me, but I was talking to Tala. Would you kindly keep your views to yourself?" Bryan took a deep breath and controlled his temper.

"Well, if you'd read the case notes, you would have found that Tala can't talk."

-

You always struck me as the type to take it lightly, but now you gonna have to shut your mouthor fight me…

-

Seth slumped against the side of his cell, a rope in his hands. He closed his eyes.

I hate you. I never want to see you again. Goodbye, Seth. Seth's eyes clouded over with tears.

"How could I be so stupid?" He said aloud. "Seth Hiwatari. Prize idiot." With shaking hands, he tied the piece of rope to the rafters of the room, which he reached by standing on a chair. He tied the other end in a noose.

Like yellow parchment is his skin, a hole stands for the nose that… never grew. You must always be on your guard, for he will find you, with his magic lasso… Seth slipped his neck into the noose.

"Goodbye Kai." With that, he kicked the chair away.

-

Backstabber, backstabber, backstabber, backstabber, backstabber, backstabber, backstabber, backstabber, backstabber, backstabber,failure hasmade you so cruel…

-

Oooo… what has Seth done? And what will Kai do? Will the therapy help Bryan? Will Tala ever talk again? Will I ever stop asking questions and update?

Tell me what you think guys! Answer the questions! (And yes, we all know the answer to the last one is 'no'!) And the 'Dogs can't answer telephones!' line is © Chu-Chi Face, aka Koren! (Yes, the one who writes as Kai in Bryan's Diary!)

Review!